When Ancient Greek texts such as the works of Aristotle and Plato were criticised by the classical philologist August Immanuel Bekker (1785-1871), a professor at Berlin University, he referred to sections of the texts using a series of numbers. This way, the section could be referred to by this number, known as a Bekker Number, regardless of the translation used. When quoting from these texts, it is important to use the Bekker number, as it is the only consistent markpoint throughout the translations of different languages and times.

Bekker numbers take the format of four numbers, a letter for column 'a' or 'b', then the line number. For example, the beginning of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is 1094a1, which corresponds to page 1094 of Bekker's edition of the Greek text of Aristotle's works, first column, line 1. Also referred to as 'Bekker index' and 'Bekker address'

Although Bekker numbers are the most common standard used for Aristotle, Stephanus pagination remains more frequently used for Plato.